Monday, June 27, 2016

Top 10 Superfoods for Weight Loss

Top 10 Super-foods for Weight Loss

If you dislike dieting, like most of us, and do not have time to go to the gym every other day, a few selected food choices could help move your scale in the right direction and would hardly have to break sweat.

Certain foods can help you slim down or help you maintain a healthy weight while simultaneously packing your body with nutrients that aid in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, preventing heart disease, and controlling type 2 diabetes.

These superfoods help you lose weight by boosting your metabolism to burn fat and by curbing cravings for fatty foods. In addition, these will keep your energy level high.

In addition to including these superfoods in your diet, make sure you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water and do physical activities daily.

Here are the top 10 superfoods for weight loss.

1. Green Tea

Green tea has many health benefits rather than coffee or other beverages. It helps in maintaining the body weight to its perfection by burning body fat, which results in reduced waist circumference and weight loss, as pointed out by a 2009 study published in the International Journal of Obesity.

A 2014 study at Pennsylvania State University reports that EGCG in green tea slows down weight gain by restricting fat absorption and increasing the body’s ability to burn fat. It even keeps your body hydrated, which can help reduce your appetite.

For optimum health benefits and to manage weight, drink two cups of freshly brewed tea or concentrated green tea everyday.

2. Blueberries

Blueberry, a powerful figure friendly superfood, should also be included in your diet. These small berries contain powerful antioxidants, which neutralize free radicals.

They also contain ample amounts of soluble fiber and water that produce a feeling of fullness so that you will stay satisfied for a longer duration between meals while improving digestion.

The manganese in it metabolizes proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. In addition, blueberries are free from fat, cholesterol, or sodium.

A 2009 University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests that blueberries help in eliminating belly fat. The polyphenols in blueberries reduce belly fat and even reduce the risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

Try to eat about a cup of blueberries every day. You can eat them as a healthy snack or include them in fruit salad, smoothie, or yogurt.

3. Flaxseeds

Flaxseeds are great for losing weight fast, thanks to their healthy fat and fiber content.

Dietary fiber is an important weight-loss nutrient, and flaxseed has high fiber content. A 2012 study published in the Appetite journal concludes that a drink containing 2.5 g of flaxseed fiber helps to suppress appetite.

This makes you feel full in a short time, and this feeling (satiety) lasts longer.

Flaxseeds contains a high amount of omega-3 fatty acids (omega-3s) that help in weight loss. A 2013 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that including a sufficient amount of omega-3s in diet helps prevent obesity.

A 2015 study published in the Nutrition journal suggests that flaxseed when added to a weight loss diet helps reduce inflammation markers such as CRP and TNF-a.

Flaxseed can even improve the lipid and metabolic profiles and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In your diet, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed. You can sprinkle it in your smoothies, juice, yogurt, cereals, salads, or soups. However, when adding flaxseed to your diet, be sure to drink enough water throughout the day.

4. Almonds

Almond is another rich superfood that helps you slim down. Fiber, protein, and monounsaturated fat contents of almonds help in losing weight. The fiber in almonds make you feel full and nourished so that you avoid unhealthy foods.

According to a 2013 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who ate 1.5 ounces of almonds daily for a period of 4 weeks did not gain significant weight.

The vitamin B and zinc in almonds also help stop sugar cravings.

Eat a handful of dry roasted or soaked almonds, in place of your regular snack. As almonds contain calories, try not to eat more than 1 ounce, or 23 almonds. You can also drink unsweetened almond milk to lose weight.

5. Grapefruit

A 2006 study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food reports that eating half of a fresh grapefruit before meals can result in significant weight loss.

Its fat-burning ability comes from its fat-burning enzymes. Even insulin resistance can be improved with fresh grapefruit. Insulin is a fat-storage hormone that can affect your weight.

In 2014, researchers at the University of California-Berkeley found positive effect of grapefruit juice in curbing weight gain in a high-fat diet.

The study was done on 2 groups of mice. One group was fed a high-fat diet and grapefruit juice. The other group was also fed a high-fat diet but with plain water instead of grapefruit juice.

The researchers found that mice who were fed grapefruit juice gained 18 percent less weight compared the the other group.

As a grapefruit contains 90% water, it can fill you up; so you eat less. It is even packed with immune-boosting vitamins and antioxidants, and is also low in calories.

About Me

Working for the benefits of future generation in the universe. Victim of the Pesticide ENDOSULPHAN, used by the Plantation Corporation of Kerala in the Kasargod District of Mulleria Government High School - worked as Mathematics High School Teacher in my life as a first Government Employee in the High School Section wef 20.01.1989. (Along with my newly wedded life partner G.C Kumari Meena 01/05/1965 - 04/04/2006) Before that worked as Primary Department Teacher wef 31st August, 1987 in the Upper Primary School, Cheecode, Malappuram District till 19th Janauary 1989. Relieved from there to join as High School Assistant in the Govt HS Mulleria, Kasargod Dist wef 20th January 1988 FN. Due to the areal spraying of the harmful pesticide ENDOSULPHAN in the Plantation Corporation of Kerala made my betterhalf to die due to the Metastatic Adeno Carcinoma in the Gall Bladder. ( DOD 04/04/2006). Also already HYDROCEPHALUS shattered the life of my own girl child MEENU, K 19 yrs is a bed patient with 8 or 9 life problems of medical disabilities.